Strategies, Tips and Techniques for Finding Work In The Film Scoring World

Strategies, Tips and Techniques for Finding Work In The Film Scoring World

Let’s face it. The film scoring industry is extremely competitive. Whether you’re in Los Angeles, or other parts of the country or world, film scoring communities are being saturated with more and more composers. As the home studio has becomes increasingly affordable, the playing field swells with competition as film composers are being manufactured at an alarming rate.

So what helps composers achieve success in this competitive industry of film music? Certainly, luck plays a role. Aside from that, composer needs all the tools they can put their hands on. The composer with the most tools available is the one most likely to succeed.

To that end I have produced 3 unique resources based on my professional experience of composing, orchestrating, or project managing over 25 Hollywood feature film scores. They arm the composer with the vital and necessary information critical for success.

They are:

1. FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE SCORING STAGE: THE COLLEGE STUDENT’S GUIDE TO LANDING A JOB IN THE FILM SCORING BUSINESS

This guidebook covers the topic of employment in the film music industry in depth. To my knowledge, it is the only resource available that tackles this elusive and critical area, and deals with the “elephant in the room” in a straightforward fashion. It specifically deals with finding work as a composer’s assistant, as that is becoming an increasingly common way to break into the business.

Unfortunately, you can’t just pick up today’s newspaper and peruse the classifieds looking for work in the film music business. Well, you could, but you would never find any film music jobs advertised. You need to seek out the working composers in your film scoring community. The handbook discusses how to do this step-by-step. There are learnable techniques and strategies you can utilize that can get you working in the film music business quickly.

Four other successful film composer assistants are interviewed in the manual to provide different perspectives on the topic. They discuss their own keys to success.

2. 112 HOLLYWOOD-INSIDER FILMSCORING TIPS

This second guidebook is a revealing insider’s look into Hollywood film scoring today and what trends and changes are occurring. It covers a lot more than just composition trends. The Hollywood film scoring process is multi-faceted and in this book I lay out 112 pointers on the demoing and interviewing process, mockups, presenting your cues, composition and orchestration, music preparation, scheduling and project management, running recording sessions, delivering the music and much more.

Even though you may not live in Hollywood, you will find that a lot of these tips can be applied to wherever it is that you are scoring films. It was written for those film composers who want to stay ahead of the curve.

3. HOLLYWOOD FILM SCORING SEMINAR

Recently I was asked to teach a 2-day film scoring workshop. Participants flew in from as many as 17 different states to attend and it was a great success. The event was recorded and I have made 5-hours of the recordings available. The seminar covers everything about the Hollywood process of scoring movies including the filmmaking and composing process, gear and effective mockups, orchestration and music preparation, Hollywood writing conventions, breaking in to the business, and much more.

I have worked on over 25 studio feature films. My credits include “Spider-Man 3” (orchestrator), “Ghost Rider” (orchestrator/musician), “Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer” (orchestrator), “All Good Things” (conductor), and “The Grudge 3” (composer), produced by Sam Raimi.

To read more about FROM THE CLASSROOM TO THE SCORING STAGE: THE COLLEGE STUDENT’S GUIDE TO LANDING A JOB IN THE FILM SCORING BUSINESS click here.